[Susan Foreman]

Went to the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham last night

First band were The Lounge Kittens, who are a three piece girl band, who sing rock and punk songs in a lounge style, to the music of a keyboard. They were fun, and the harmonies were lovely, but they are a one joke band, and the joke will soon wear out. As good as they were, I doubt if you will be hearing much from them next year

Next up were REO Speedwagon

Setlist - Take It on the Run/Back on the Road Again/Keep On Loving You/Roll With the Changes/Keep Pushin'/Ridin' the Storm Out/Can't Fight This Feeling Anymore

They were big in the 80's, but to me they were always interchangeable with the other similar bands of the era - Foreigner, Boston, Kansas etc. They put on a good show, and you could tell that vocalist Kevin Cronin was having a good time because he insisted on telling us how much he loves Nottingham after every single song! Oh - in case anyone in the audience was not sure that they were an American AOR band, not only did they have a grand piano n stage, they also had a guitarist who played a double-neck guitar!

The headliners were The Francis Rossi Band, better known as Status Quo

Setlist - Caroline/The Wanderer/Something 'bout You Baby I Like/Rain/Softer Ride/Beginning of the End/Hold You Back/Medley (What You're Proposing, Down the Dustpipe, Wild Side of Life, Railroad, Again And Again, Slow Train)/The Oriental/Creepin' Up on You/Gerdundula/In the Army Now/Drum Solo/Roll Over Lay Down/Down Down/Whatever You Want/Rockin' All Over the World/Paper Plane/Burning Bridges (On and Off and on Again)/Bye Bye Johnny

I last saw them over 30 years ago, and they are one of those bands where you know exactly what you are going to get. However, without Rick Parfitt in the band anymore, there was something missing. The songs were wonderful and the interaction between Francis Rossi and the audience was still there, but without Parfitt, it seemed to be Francis Rossi and backing band.

This tour is supposedly the last electric tour that the band are going to play. Instead, from 2017, they are going to be concentrating more on acoustic tours and recordings.

With a set full of back-to-back hits, for me they worked best on the faster, older songs, and it was a delight to hear 'Caroline', 'Down Down' and 'Paper Plane' although the folk trappings of 'Gerdundula' were also welcome. However, the big surprise was 'In The Army Now'. I have always found the recorded version to be incredibly tedious, but in the live arena, with the lightshow depicting gunfire (ala Metallica's 'One'), the song took on a whole new poignancy and was certainly a highspot

As much as I love Status Quo, and as enjoyable as this show was, I do think it's time for them to hang up their guitars for good, but I doubt if Rossi is ready to do that yet